Landscape & Nature Photography

I f y o u r e l o o k i n g t o t a k e y o u r l a n d s c a p e p h o t o g r a p h y t o n e w l e v e l s . Yo u d o n t n e e d t o p u r c h a s e e x p e n s i v e n e w g e a r i n o r d e r t o c r e a t e

a m a z i n g l a n d s c a p e s ; o n e o f t h e b e s t w a y s t o c r e a t e

v i s u a l l y s t u n n i n g l a n d s c a p e s , i s b y u n d e r s t a n d i n g

t h e a r t o f c o m p o s i t i o n a n d a p p l y i n g i t e f f e c t i v e l y.

C o m p o s i t i o n i s a r g u a b l y o n e o f t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t

f e a t u r e s i n p h o t o g r a p h y. I t s t h e h e a r t a n d s o u l o f l a n d s c a p e p h o t o g r a p h y, a n d i s w h a t t i e s e v e r y t h i n g

t o g e t h e r f o r m a x i m u m i m p a c t . L e a r n i n g h o w t o

e f f e c t i v e l y u s e c o m p o s i t i o n a l t e c h n i q u e s i s o n e o f

t h e b e s t w a y s t o c r e a t e m a s t e r f u l l a n d s c a p e

i m a g e r y.

1. The Right Light

Excellent lighting is a little-known secret behind some of the

most amazing landscape photos today. The right lighting can

do wonders for your landscape photography, and many

professional photographers hint at the importance of lighting

in their compositions.

The dramatic light after a storm or the soft, beautiful glow

during Golden Hour can make all the difference, and often is

what separates a lacklustre photograph from a truly outstanding image.

2. Create Balance

The importance of a well-balanced composition is an often-

overlooked, but its a important part of a good composition. All

of the elements in a composition should work together to

create an image that is visually balanced. Balance your

compositions by making sure one side of the image doesnt contain overpowering elements that cause the side of

the photo to be too heavy.

3. Rule of Thirds

Following on from balance; keeping the rule of thirds in mind

can help to create visually balanced landscape compositions.

The rule of thirds is a well-known compositional technique

that says to place your main focal point off to the side of an

image, rather than dead centre. This often results in natural

looking, and well-balanced photos.

While the rule of thirds is a good starting point, sometimes

this rule should be broken. Often, compositions will call for

the focal point to be in the centre, or even slightly off centre the key is a visually balanced composition.

4. Include Foreground Interest

Its been said that A landscape is not a landscape without an

introduction. Including part of the foreground in your landscape compositions is a great way to set the context and

introduce your viewers to the scene.

Including foreground can help to grab the viewers attention, and draw them into the image, creating a sense of perspective

and interest. Including foreground elements that help to set

the stage can result in engaging and captivating photos.

4. Look for Leading Lines

Look for opportunities to incorporate leading lines in your

landscape images. Lines can be an effective way to help lead

your viewers eyes through the image, and can help to draw attention to the focal point. Examples of leading lines include

roads, trails, or rivers, or waves breaking onto the shoreline.

Look for opportunities to include lines that will naturally draw

your eye through the composition.

5.Frame Your Image

While including points of interest in the foreground is one way

to frame your images, keep on the lookout for other ways to

frame your images in. A classic example of this is including

overhanging tree branches along the edge of the image, or

using opportunities to use the frame within the frame technique that involves looking through a doorway, or an arch

to create a frame within the composition itself.

6. Using Diagonals

Diagonal lines generally work well to draw the eye of an

images viewer through the photograph. They create points of interest as they intersect with other lines and often give

images depth by suggesting perspective.

7. The S Curves

S curves can have a mesmerizing effect on the viewer as their

eyes sweep back and forth through the frame. They also

create a sense of depth as the eye moves from foreground to

background.

S curves can be found in the natural flow of a river, a winding

road, or a pathway.

8. Circles

Circles can be found in nature from ripples in a pond or

puddles of water, or in many man-made objects.

Often in architecture you can find compositions that combine

multiple curves as well as some lines that add depth and

variety to the image.

9. Implied Triangle

One of the most common types of triangles that youll come

across is the implied triangle. As youll rarely see physical triangles in photography, the shape is almost

always implied, and its done so usually without the viewer even noticing it.

Triangles are a great way of grouping together three points

of a photograph and organising them so they portray a

certain feeling such as stability, aggression, instability, etc.

When you understand this, you can use them as invisible

features of a photo which evokes a strong feeling to the viewer.

10. Rule of Odds.

Moving on to some simpler ideas, the rule of odds is

somewhat related to the rule of thirds. The eye tends to be

more comfortable with images that contain an odd number of

elements rather than an even number. A photograph of three

birds, for example, is probably going to be more

appealing than an image shot after that third bird flies away.

The reason for this is that the human eye will naturally wander

towards the centre of a group. If theres empty space there, then thats where the eye will fall. As a photographer, you want your viewer to look at a subject, not at an empty space.

11. Sense of Scale

A space is only as vast as you make it seem. In a photograph,

it can be hard to grasp how big or small the landscape really

is. Thats why you should always try to display the size by using something, or someone, as a ruler.

People are all generally about the same size, so if you see a

person in the distance of a landscape photo, you can really tell

just how vast that landscape is.

And of course, including a person in your photo is a great way

of adding an interesting subject and focal point to what might

otherwise be a boring scene of just fields and sky.

Rules are Made to Be Broken?

Of course while knowing the rules is important knowing

when to use them and when to break them is a talent that

great photographers generally have.

Practice these techniques but dont get so worked up about them that they kill the creativity that you have.

Let me finish with saying that You will be remembered for the rules you break .

THANK YOU !!!!

Now let us proceed with Image Processing..................